Con Season 2016 has begun! With everything from PAX East this upcoming weekend all the way to Comikaze in October, the best half of the year is underway. In an effort to best cover these, The Flickcast has made sure I have appropriate credentials to get on the floor (or at the least, a map of where all the best bars and parties are) at each convention.

First, I headed to WonderCon as a part of The Flickcast team and Whiskey & Waffles. At the event, I had four very important ‘jobs’:

1. Speak on the SKYBOUND panel about digital video creators

2. Take the Mighty Wallet Challenge

3. Snag one of Loot Crate’s 2016 Convention Exclusive Crates

4. Cosplay as Hawkeye

Fans of The 100, if you thought this season was going to pull back from the insanity, think again.  At WonderCon 2016 all the cast and creator Jason Rothenberg could talk about was what is still in store for the Grounders and the Skykru as a new enemy emerges.

Speaking during interviews at WonderCon, Rothenberg jumped right in to discuss how Lexa’s controversial death will play out through the end of the season. The key is the chip that was taken out of her. “Everyone is going to be after this chip,” he said. “It’s going to drive this story into a very intense direction.”

This is going to link up with season three’s major underlying story, the introduction of the AI known as ALIE. Raven has a personal score to settle with the AI. Earlier this season Raven, still suffering with pain from her leg injury, learned the AI was taking all of her happy memories.

Speaking about her character, Lindsey Morgan said, “Because she had to learn to be strong, she will always be strong…It’s going to be very interesting coming up, I’m very excited to see that.” She also teased the “fight of the century” between Raven and ALIE.

Premiering at WonderCon 2016, Justice League vs. Teen Titans brings the young team of heroes back to life with renewed energy and focus in one of DC Entertainment’s best animated films to date.

After Damien Wayne/Robin’s aggression nearly threatens a Justice League mission, he is sent to train with the Teen Titans. He’s hardly arrived when Raven’s (Taissa Farmiga) satanic father, Trigon (Jon Bernthal), plots an escape from his inter-dimensional prison. To aid in his escape, Trigon’s demons possess members of the Justice League. The Teen Titans are left with the impossible task of defeating the JLA and saving the planet.

“Teen Titans is like The Breakfast Club or Degrassi High,” said producer James Tucker.

With all of the emotions and tempers of teenagers heaped on top of having various powers and abilities, the Titans might as well be an angsty teen drama. Damien (Stuart Allan) doesn’t help matters. Still stubborn and arrogant, he’s certain he’s too good for the team.

Fans who grew up with Batman: The Animated Series as their go-to cartoon superhero show have undoubtedly noticed the darker, more violent trend in those same cartoons now. I don’t think this is bad or even unwanted, as you can tell from my review of this month’s Batman vs. Robin. But a return to a more traditional, 90s feel is certainly welcome. That’s what we get in Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts.

The story brings together classic Batman foes and heroes to uncover the plot behind Penguin’s new invention of Cyber Animals. The robotic creatures keep popping up during strange crimes committed by the Animilitia, a squad of animal-inspired villains that includes Silverback, Cheetah, Killer Croc and Man-Bat. Luckily, Batman has his own squad to call on and Flash, Green Arrow, Nightwing and Red Robin answer.

Animal Instincts comes straight out of DC Entertainment’s desire to create a Batman animated film for younger kids. That sentiment registered strongly with screenwriter Heath Corson who “wanted to capture that fun of Silver Age Justice League comics.” He’s definitely done that here. Humor is used to great effect and is mixed effortlessly with both hand-to-hand and high speed action scenes. Fight sequences are often one-on-one giving each hero and villain a chance in the spotlight.

With WonderCon, the Con season of 2015 has begun. Starting with WonderCon it rolls into the Star Wars Celebration, E3, Comic Con in San Diego, VidCon, RTX and wraps up around New York Comic Con… so basically the next six months of our lives. In celebration, JC and Wally went to Anaheim with camera in hand and only one pass. If Wally didn’t get in, he’d head to Disneyland. But if he did, he was going to “press” as hard as he could.

This may be the last year for WonderCon to grace the Disney neighborhood as it may be heading to Los Angeles next year. When we were there this year, we did see an influx of Disney / Star Wars hybrids. If they get further from the happiest place on earth, will that still happen?

Most likely. Mashup cosplays have taken over. JC though wasn’t having any of that and decided to rock the SoCal Hal look, the douchebag alternate universe version of the Green Lantern from DC’s Infinite Crisis MOBA game.